The Arabic word Islam means peace, submission and obedience.
The religion of Islam is the complete acceptance of the teachings
and guidance of God as revealed to His Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

A Muslim is one who believes in God and strives for total
reorganization of his life according to His revealed guidance and
the saying of Prophet. Mohammedanism is a misnorm for Islam and
offends its very spirit.

The word Allah is the proper name of God in Arabic. It is
a unique term because it has no plural or feminine gender.

The Five Pillars of Islam

There are five pillars of Islam.

1. The
declaration of Faith: To bear witness that there
is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His
messenger to all human beings till the Day of Judgment. The
Prophet hood of Muhammad obliges the Muslims to follow his
exemplary life as a model.

2. Prayers: Daily
prayers are offered five times a day as a duty towards Allah.
They strengthen and enliven the belief in Allah and inspire man to
a higher morality. They purify the heart and prevent
temptation towards wrong-doings and evil.

3. Fasting in the month of Ramadan:
The Muslims during the month of Ramadan not only abstain
from food, drink and sexual intercourse from dawn to sunset, but
also from evil intentions and desires. It teaches love,
sincerity and devotion. It develops a sound social
conscience, patience, unselfishness and will-power.

4. Zakat (Poor Due): To pay
annually 2.5% of one's net savings on which a year has passed as a
religious duty and purifying sum to be spent on poorer sections of
the community.

5. Pilgrimage to Makkah: It
is to be performed once in a lifetime, if one can afford it
financially and physically.

Besides these pillars every action which is done with the
awareness that it fulfills the will of Allah is also considered an
act of worship.

Human is the highest creation of God. He is equipped with the
highest of potentialities. He is left relatively free in his
will, action and choice. God has shown him the right path,
and the life of Prophet Muhammad provides a perfect example.
Islam teaches the sanctity of the human personality and confers
equal rights upon all without any distinction of race, sex or
color.

The law of god, enunciated in the Quran and exemplified in the
life of the propjet, is supreme in all cases. It applies
equally to the highest and the lowest, the prince and the peasant,
the ruler and the ruled.

Quran and Hadith

The Quran is the last revealed word of God and the basic source
of Islamic teachings and law. The quran deals with the bases
of creeds, morality, history of humanity, worship, knowledge,
wisdom, God-man relationship, and human relationship in all
aspects. Comprehensive teachings on which, can be built
sound systems of social justice, economics, politics,
legislations, jurisprudence, law and international relations, are
important contents of the Holy Quran.

Muhammad (PBUH) himself was an unlettered man who could not
read or write. Yet, the Holy Quran was committed to memory
and writings by his followers, under his supervision, during his
lifetime. The original and complete text of the Quran is
available to everybody in Arabic, the language in which it was
revealed. The translations of the meanings into many
languages are widely used. Hadith, the teachings, sayings
and actions of Prophet Muhammad, meticulously reported and
collected by his devoted companions, explain and elaborate the
Quranic Verses.

Concept of Worship

Islam does not teach or accept mere ritualism. It
emphasizes intention and action. To worship God is to know
Him and love Him, to act upon His law in every aspect of life, to
enjoin goodness and forbid wrong-doing and oppression, to practice
charity and justice and to serve Him by serving mankind.

Islamic Way of Life

Islam provides definite guidelines for all peoples to follow in
all walks of life. The guidance it gives is comprehensive
and includes the social, economic, political, moral and spiritual
aspects of life. The Quran reminds man of the purpose of his
life on earth, of his duties and obligations towards himself, his
kith and kin, his community, his fellow human beings and his
Creator. Man is given fundamental guidelines about a
purposeful life and then he is left with the challenge of human
existence before him so that he might put these high ideas into
practice. In Islam, man's life is a wholesome, integrated
unit and not a collection of fragmented, competitive parts.

Historical Perspespective

Muhammad (PBUH) was born in the year 570 A.C. in the city
of Makkah in Arabia. He came of a noble family; he received
the first revelation at the age of Forty. As soon as he
started preaching Islam, he and his followers were persecuted and
had to face severe hardships. He was, therefore, commanded
by God to migrate to Medina, another city in Arabia. during
a short span of 23 years, he completed his mission of prophet hood
and died at the age of 63. He led a perfect life and set an
example for all human-beings as his life was the embodiment of the
Quranic teachings.

Islam - The solution of Modern
Problems

The Brotherhood of Man:
A major problem which modern man faces is that of racism.
The materially advanced nations can send man to the moon but they
cannot stop man from hating and fighting his fellow man.
Islam, over the last 1400 years, has shown in practice
how racism can be ended. Every year, during Hajj, the
Islamic miracle of real brotherhood of all races and nations can
be seen in action.

The Family: The family which
is the basic unit of civilization is disintegrating in all western
countries. Islam's family system brings into a fine
equilibrium the rights of man, wife, children and relatives.
Islam nourishes human unselfishness, generosity and love in a
well-organized family system.